"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show." These words are what commence the great novel David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, and serve to set up the fictional autobiography which follows. Why is the art of story so precious? What benefit is story to those who are in Christ? Why is it that people, generally, love a good opening line? These questions I myself have asked, and although I could give several answers, there is some mystery in the love of story-telling. The answers I do know are grand and beautiful concepts that could not be examined thoroughly within a context of a blog post, but I shall do my best. The most paramount answer is that we are formed in the image of God. Second, we love to be entertained, and third, it draws us closer to one another.
We love story, because we are formed in the image of God. I know of no one who understood this, and explained this better than J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien would say that myths exist to point towards one great myth. A myth which precedes all other myths, which stands above all other myths, and is actually true! Every other myth was to speak to this myth. Myths that praised heroism, loved goodness, and honored self-sacrifice look to this grand myth; the gospel of Jesus Christ. The story of a holy God sending his perfect Son to die a traitor's death in place of sinful men is the greatest story ever created, and it was created by the great author of creation. Stories are glimmers of light in the flame of the gospel. Stories point to the true narrative of the gospel, and the glory of God. Why does the reader hold onto the hope of Anne and Captain Wentworth coming together by the end of Persuasion? Because Anne is good, and honest, and true, and has won the heart of the readers. We want the good, honest, and true to succeed, because Jesus Christ, the only good, honest, true one, has succeeded himself.
We love to be entertained. Books are an avenue for us to delve into other worlds, see new people, and witness things new. We are as Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer in the wood between the worlds. The ring is our imagination, and the pools our books. We find pleasure in reading. I have found several people who have seemed a little embarassed when they have asked me what I enjoy doing, and when I respond with "I love to read," they then hesitatingly reply, "I don't really read." I often want to reply, "I'm not your high school english teacher. I don't care that you don't enjoy reading." Yet, I feel that it is not actually the reading that holds their distaste, but what they are reading that is not enjoyable. I understand that I enjoy an extremely wide variety of literature that others do not, but I firmly believe that if one finds a novel that meets their interests they will not be able to put that book down.
We love to read, because it draws us closer to one another. Three years ago my brother and I decided to read through Mere Christianity together. Less than a year ago my friend Alyssa and I decided to go through David Copperfield together. On both occasions of social reading, I and the other would read a certain amount of the book, then when we came together we would discuss. The conversations were lively, and highly enjoyable. Questions would come up of "What did the author mean by this?", "Who do you think is behind this event?", "What do you think of this character?", "When the author says this, how might it apply to ourselves today?", etc. These discussions would bring our friendships closer together. We would learn more about each other by seeing these stories through each others eyes. We were brothers and sisters in Christ talking about literature, learning about art, learning about ideas, learning about each other, and learning together how great and awesome God is for creating and blessing us with reading literature socially.
Unlike David Copperfield, I know I am not the hero of my life, but I do know who is; Jesus of Nazareth. Stories point to the grand story of the great hero who has conquered death; and when we read stories together we are reminded of the gospel, and together we grow in the gospel by that experience. Maybe you agree, but maybe you are still fighting me on reading. If so, that's okay. Be it watching films, playing sports, watching sports, gardening, cooking, music, or whatever. There are so many things which can be done to participate in gospel community. Do it, be filled!
No comments:
Post a Comment